Romano reveals €100m player Chelsea 'really like'

Tom Weber

• Updated: 29 Sep 2024 09:06 CDT
• 3 min read

Chelsea 'really like' Benfica defender Tomas Araujo, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The Blues are always attentive to the transfer market and up-and-coming talents. In the summer, Chelsea brought in defensive reinforcements in the form of Tosin Adarabioyo, Renato Veiga, Caleb Wiley and Aaron Anselmino, the latter two immediately going out on loan.

Despite this, the west London giants are paying close attention to developments around Europe and one of the players to have piqued their interest is Benfica centre-back Tomas Araujo.

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Late in the summer window, Fabrizio Romano revealed that the 22-year-old was a player Chelsea were looking at as a potential option, but no transfer ultimately materialised.

Benfica were unwilling to sell, so interested clubs like the Blues or Crystal Palace would have had to trigger his release clause to prise him away. The problem? His release clause is reportedly worth a whopping €100 million.

Chelsea still keen

Speaking to CaughtOffside, Romano has revealed that Chelsea remain interested in Araujo and could revisit a deal for him in the future should they feel the need to add to their defensive ranks. Additionally, they are interested in RB Leipzig defender Castello Lukeba.

"Chelsea are following many centre-backs [and] Lukeba is one of many players they’ve been monitoring, which is absolutely normal, just like with Tomas Araujo at Benfica. Araujo in particular is a player Chelsea really like, and they tried for him in the final weeks of the summer transfer window.

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"At that time, Benfica didn’t want to sell the player, but he remains someone on Chelsea’s radar, and they are also scouting Lukeba, but at this moment it’s too early to predict where he’s going.”

Chelsea's interest in Araujo is intriguing, though, as he has yet to establish himself as a guaranteed regular starter for Benfica. At 22, he has only made 29 senior appearances for the Lisbon giants.